Canada and FCM Announce Support for Net Zero Energy Ready Affordable Housing in Rossland
By Rossland Telegraph
Everyone in Canada deserves a safe, affordable, and sustainable place to call home. That is why the Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) are investing in communities to provide sustainable and affordable housing for Rossland residents.
John Aldag, Member of Parliament for Cloverdale—Langley City, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, and Garth Frizzell, Past President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), today announced a $3.2 million investment in the City of Rossland, British Columbia. They were joined by the Member of Parliament for South Okanagan—West Kootenay and Mayor Kathy Moore of the City of Rossland.
The funding is provided through FCM’s Sustainable Affordable Housing (SAH) initiative and will support the construction of 37 housing units to address a lack of workforce housing for individuals and families in Rossland. The Lower Columbia Affordable Housing Society, in partnership with the City, will add these units above a new City Hall which will occupy most of the first floor of the new build. To achieve the net-zero energy ready standard, the building will use efficient mechanical and electrical systems, a highly insulated building envelope, high-efficiency windows and LED lighting.
“Rossland greatly appreciates the FCM grant we have received to bring our new affordable housing/city hall project up to a higher standard of energy efficiency, said Kathy Moore, Mayor of the City of Rossland. “With our commitment to rely on 100% renewable energy by 2050, we hope this FCM supported project will inspire others to implement construction and retrofit net zero standards throughout our community,”
The Government of Canada endowed the $300-million Sustainable Affordable Housing initiative as part of a $950-million expansion of FCM’s Green Municipal Fund (GMF) in Budget 2019. The SAH initiative helps housing providers retrofit existing units for higher energy performance or build new affordable housing to net-zero standards, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and supporting municipalities in achieving their broader climate change plan objectives. In its first year of funding, in 2020-2021, the SAH initiative approved funding for 33 projects, representing more than 3,000 units.
